Time to hurry up and wait

Monday

Jun 9, 2014 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - With only 357 votes separating the pair, the time has come to wait for thousands of unprocessed ballots to be counted in a race that pitted two Stockton City Council members against each other for a Stockton-centered seat on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - With only 357 votes separating the pair, the time has come to wait for thousands of unprocessed ballots to be counted in a race that pitted two Stockton City Council members against each other for a Stockton-centered seat on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

The relative lull is a change from the frenetic pace in the final days leading up to Tuesday's contest between Kathy Miller and Paul Canepa, as both campaigns tried to get their supporters to the polls.

Those votes are a critical piece to any campaign, but more so in races like this one, where the outcome was expected to be close and the turnout low.

"Your ground game makes the most difference," said Jeff Acquistapace, a political consultant with Miller's campaign. "If you can't turn your support out to vote - it's worthless."

At the end of the day Tuesday, Miller said she had spent a solid six hours on the phone getting out the vote.

And it was particularly difficult to nudge voters to the polls during this election.

About 17 percent of voters in both the district and the county as a whole had voted as of Tuesday, either at the polls or by mail-in ballots. Even with more than 21,000 unprocessed ballots left to count in the county, the turnout will likely be just over 24 percent, a historical low for a gubernatorial primary, according to county election officials.

"In really low, low turnout, you're chasing a lot of ghosts," said Allen Sawyer, Canepa's political consultant. The campaign identified supporters, checked to see who voted and tried to get those who hadn't voted to do so, he said. Sometimes people that the campaign knew had not voted would tell get-out-the-vote callers that they had already voted, he said.

The end result will come down to those get-out-the-vote efforts, Sawyer said. "I think that Kathy Miller ran a good campaign. I knew it was going to be a squeaker."

Before the time came to rally voters, campaigns worked on selling their candidates. The issues of this campaign did include countywide issues - both candidates were critical of state water plans impacting the Delta, and the two sparred over how best to approach crowding issues at the San Joaquin County Jail, which falls under the purview of county government.

But much of the campaign focused on the city of Stockton, its issues and its politics. The district includes both the city and unincorporated county pockets. It's currently held by Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller, himself a former City Council member.

Both Miller and Canepa served on the City Council during one of the most turbulent times in the city's history. The time was characterized by cuts, layoffs, fights with employee groups, financial insolvency and, ultimately, a plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

First elected to the council in 2008, Miller was part of it for two years longer than Canepa.

"Kathy Miller is very much identified with the bankruptcy," said Bob Benedetti, a professor emeritus at University of the Pacific and an adjunct professor at the California State University, Sacramento, Center for California Studies. During the development of that plan, every cost of the city had to be scrutinized, and Canepa has been more critical of it than Miller, Benedetti said.

If Miller wins, it would be a sign of support from voters for the city's bankruptcy plan, he said.

Miller suffered more from the fallout from the city's struggles. She was hit hard with attack ads from an independent-expenditure group, with funding from the Stockton Police Officers Association. The group said Miller unfairly painted police officers as scapegoats for the city's financial ills.

Miller said that both she and Canepa put up the same votes to move the plan forward. "Part of why I've been targeted is that I haven't apologized for votes that were necessary," Miller said.

The votes are still being counted, and it's too early to interpret what the results mean, Canepa said. "It kind of is what it is," he said. "We're still in the middle of this."

At the polls Tuesday, reasons from voters varied.

"I know the name," said Gerald Grilliot, 73, who taught at St. Mary's High School when Canepa was a student. The Canepa name is well known in the city, where the Canepa Car Wash family business has been a fixture for decades.

Michael Martinez said it was a tough decision, but he voted for Canepa. But he knows him personally, which is why he voted for him, because he could personally hold him accountable. "When I see Paul, I'll put him on the spot," he said. "I think it's good to be able to do that."

Patricia Gamez, 46, said she picked Miller after reading statements from the candidates. "I felt more comfortable with her."

Clem Lee, a former City Council member and current member of the county Planning Commission, said he voted for Miller. "Somebody had to be the adult in the room and say what we're going to do," he said. "For my money, Kathy did that. Paul did not."

Contact reporter Zachary K. Johnson at (209) 546-8258 or zjohnson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/johnsonblog and on Twitter @zacharykjohnson.